Tarn feeding mechanism for knit



July 19, 1938. R. H. LAWSON ET AL ,1 2 YARN FEEDING MECHANISM FOR KNITTING MACHINES I I Filed July .31, 1934 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 [A va/Tami;

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July 19, 1938.

R. H. LAWSON ET AL YARN FEEDING MECHANISM" FOR KNITTING MACHINES Filed July'3l, 1934 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 ZA/VEAUWES: i R0352 THZA WJ'0M ARTHUR AZ 62002755 @017 iff July 19, 1938.. R.'H Q\L AWSON ET AL I 2,124,253

YARN FENDINGMECHANYYSM FOR KNITTING MACHINES Filed Ju1y'31, 1934' 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 fiI/VEJYTURS:

B03227 ZA W501! JRYHl/R 1V CL 01/21/519,

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July 19, 1938 Y R. H. LAWSON ET AL 2,124,253

YARN FEEDING MECHANISM FOR KNITTING MACHINES Filed July 31. 1934 5" Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTflRS: 180522717 LIWSWZ 14227111712111 6200775 5 .3. A TT y.

' ly1 1938. R. H. LAWSQN ET AL 2,1242% YARN FEEDING MECHANISM FOR KNITTING MACHINES V Filed uly 31, 1954- 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 TTy.

Patented July 19, 1938;

PATENT OFFICE YARN rename MECHANISM son xm'rme memes Robert 11. Lawson, Pawtucket, and Arthur N.- Cloutier, Lonsdale, It. 1., assignors to Hemphill Company, Central Falls, R. I., a corporation of Massachusetts Application July 31, 1934, SerialNo. 737,808

12 Claims. (01.. 66-139) 1 1 I, ffllieipresent invention is primarily concerned with the knitting of plated fabric and more parv ticularly with a means for readily interchanging the plating and/or other yarns. g a

In the drawings: 1 Fig. 1 isa view of a knitting machine having the present improvements applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the machine shown in Fig. 1, certain parts being omitted;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view, partly in section,

of a portion of the latch ring shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary elevational view partly in section taken along the line 44, Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged elevational view showin 15 the latch ring and levers for controlling the interchanging of the plating threads;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view in elevation taken at right angles to the view shown in Fig. 5;

Fig. '7 is a view in elevation taken at right 2 angles to the view shown in Fig; l showing cam drums for controlling the plating threads;

Fig. 8 is a plan viewshowlng the levers and one of the drums. of Fig. '7;

Fig. 9 is a detail view taken along the line 9-9,.

2.5,Fig. 8; and

Fig; 10 is a sectional viewin elevation of the latch ring showing the feeding of main and plating threads to the needles. I The machine shown is an improvement upon 30 that shown in the patent to Hemphill 933,443,

September 7, 1909, and in the patents to Lawson 1,605,896, November 2, 1926 and Re. 16,584, April 5, 1927, although the mechanism is obviously adaptable to other types of knitting machines. 35 The needle'cylinder I is mounted in a circular base 2 being driven to rotate or reciprocate in the usual manner as by means of pulleys 3. The various knitting operations at times are controlled through the-agency of a pattern chain 4 40 and cams on the several drums 5. 6 and I, all

of which are fast to the main cam shaft 8, the chain 4 being periodically and. constantly racked independently of the shaft 8. The usual thread oryarn lever box 9 is provided, being secured to 45 an extension of the circular. base 2 and upstanding therefrom. 'The needles III are slidably mounted in 'tricks or grooves in the needle cyl-v inder I being controlled in.their movements by cams mounted on or adjacent. to the cam ring 50 H and in some cases being selected by jacks (not shown). At the upper end of the needle cylinder is attached, to rotate with the needle cylinder, a sinker head l2 the movements of thesinkers (not shown) being controlled in the usual 55 manner by cams in a sinker cam cap ii. A

- fabric by causing the needles to knit one or more of the yarns and simultaneously therewith a plating thread. Mounted on the said cam block are the. usual narrowing picks such as ll. 10 Mounted upon the yarn lever box 9 and fastened thereto as by screws I8 is a plate l9, connections (not shown) passing up through the yarn lever box 9 and actuating the yarn levers 20 in any desired order, as usual in machines of the type shown in the drawings. Forming part of the plate l9 and extending laterally therefrom (Fig. 2) is an arm 2! provided with a strengthe ning rib 2 I To the outer or free end of arm 2i is connected in any suitable manner I present instance and designated by the numerals 23 24 and 25. Removably connected to open ended slots in said levers 23; 24 and 25 are links 25 26, 21 and 28 said links depending. fromthe outer end of said levers slots provided in one end of each of levers 29, 30

nected intermediate their ends as at 32 to the machine frame. The other arms of the levers 2'9,

30, 3| have adjustably fastened thereto toes or followers 33, 34, 35 respectively which rest upon the surface of a drum 3B or upon suitably posi- 35 tioned cams, such as 3'l,-carried thereby. The cam drum 36 is fixedly mounted upon a shaft 38 to which circumferential movements are 'auto-. matically and intermittently imparted in any suitable manner. The shaft may be supported 40 in suitable bearings carried by uprightbrackets such as 39 attached to the machine frame as by screws or bolts 40. g l

A plate 4|, Figs. 7, 8 and 9, serves two purposes, namely, to maintain the levers 29, 30 and 3|. in proper alignment with their respective cams on the cam drum 36 and to elevate all of the toes of the levers 29. l0 and 3| thereby elethe arm 42 of the plate 4!, the plate 4 b il' gtli;

and being removably .con- H nected at their lower ends (Fig. 7) in open ended thereby maintained in proper relation with respect to the levers 29, 38 and 3|. The plate is adjustably connected as by means of screws 46 to a depending link 41 to the lower end of which is pivotally and adjustably connected a lever 48. The lever 48 is pivoted intermediate its end as at 49 to the machine frame and at its other end is provided with a toe or follower 58 which is maintained in contact with the surface of the drum 5' or cams 5| and 52 which are fastened to the surface of the drum. The toe 50 is maintained in contact with the drum or cams 5| and 52 thereon by the weight of the plate 4|, link 41, etc. and further by springs that will be presently described.

In Fig. 10 a main or body thread or yarn 53 is shown as being fed to the needles with a plating thread or yarn 54. The yarns such as 53 are interchangeably fed to the needles in the usual manner through the usual thread guides 28, while plating threads such as 54 are interchangeably fed to the needles through guides such as 55, 56, 51,, Figs. 3, 4 and 10. In order to secure better plating effects it is desirable that the platlng and body threads be fed to the needles at separated points and maintained in separated relation; to effect this desirable object the auxiliary or plating thread levers 55, 56, 51 are slidably and vertically mounted in a block 58 which is recessed or grooved for that purpose at 59, Fig. 3. A plate 60 which is fastened to the block' 58 as by screws 6| serves to maintain the guides 55, 56, 51 within the slot or recess 59. The block 58 upstands from and is integral with or fastened to a bracket plate 62 which in turn is adjustably fastened to the latch ring M as by means of screws 63 and elongated slots 64 provided in the plate 62. Adjustment of the plate 62 and consequently of the yarn levers 55, 56, 51 permits the said yarn levers to be properly adjusted with respect to the main feeding point and with respect to the needles and a cutout or recessed portion 65 provided in the latch ring l4.

The recessing of the latch ring at 65 permits the ends of the guides 55, 56, 51 to pass down between the needles and the latch ring M as indicated in Fig. 4.

The yarn levers 55, 56, 51 at their upper ends extend laterally as at 66, 61, 68. From the free ends of the arms or extensions 66, 61 and 68 pins 69, 10 and 1| extend laterally and to these pins are pivotally connected levers 12, 13 and 14 respectively, said levers 12, 13, 14 being maintained in engagement with their respective pins as by means of screws 15 which are in threaded engagement with their respective pins, 69, 18, 1|. As will be noted from inspection of Figs. 2 and 5 the extension 66, 61, 68 and their respective pins 69, 18, 1| are of different lengths, the shortest extension 66 being provided with the longest pin 69 and the longest extension 68 being provided with the shortest pin 1|, such construction providing a compact yarn change mechanism. Connected to the latch ring l4, Figs.- 5 and 6, is an upstanding bracket 16, screws such as 11 serving to clamp the bracket 16 to the latch ring H. The bracket 16 at its upper portion extends at right angles the resultant horizontal portion 18 providing a suitable support for the levers 12, 13, 14. Also the horizontal portion 18 of the bracket 16 is provided with a series of holes through which pass pins 19, 88 and 8| which are headed at their upper portions to' seat upon the plate 18. The pins 19, 88 and 8| extend downwardly through the holes in the plate 18 being engaged by levers 23, 24, 25 respectively. As hereinbefore described, the levers 23, 24, 25 are automatically controlled in their pivotal movements by links, 21, 28 and through them by the cams on the drum 36. When acam such as 31 engages a toe of a lever such as 33, the corresponding lever is rocked and its connecting lever 23 is also rocked thereby elevating the pin 19 which engages a lever 51 from the position shown in Fig. 4 to an inoperative non-feeding position. Conversely when a lever 29, 30 or 3| drops to a position in contact with the surface of the drum 36 the corresponding lever such as 51 drops to the position shown in Fig. 4, the movement being accelerated by one of a series of leaf springs 82, one such spring being provided for each lever 12, 13, 14. As shown in Fig. 5 the free ends of the leaf springs are shaped as at 83 to straddle their respective levers 12, 13, 14 thereby maintaining the said levers in proper lateral position so as not to move out of contact with their respective pins When it becomes necessary to rethread the levers 55, 56, 51 a lever 84 is rocked, one arm of such lever taking under the levers 12, 13, 14 thus rocking them on their pivot 85 and consequently elevating the yarn levers 55, 56, 51 to such a position as to be conveniently threaded. The lever 84 is also mounted for pivotal movements on the pin 85 which pin passes through holes provided in an upstanding portion of the bracket 18 being retained in axial position by means of a screw 86. A cap plate 81 surmounts the upper portion of the bracket 18 being retained in position as by means of screws such as 88 some of which may also serve to retain the leaf springs in fixed position with respect to their levers 12. 13, 14.

At 89 is shown a yarn controlling mechanism similar to that shown in Lawson et al. Patent 1,757,434, May 6, 1930. A tension device 98 which is similar to the tension device or element |1 shown in the Lawson et al. patent, performs the same function with respect to the main yarns fed through the levers 28. For the auxiliary or plating threads or yarns such as 54 a thread or yarn tensioning element 9| is provided, said tensioning element being similar to the element 98 and being fastened to plate 89 as by screws 92.

During the knitting of the leg of the stocking, toe 58 of the lever 48 is in contact with the drum as indicated at Fig. 7. As the knitting of a heel is about to commence, continued rotation of the drum 5 in the direction of the arrow, causes the cam 5| to engage the toe 50 of the lever 48 and rock lever 48 against the tension of the leaf springs 82, the yarn levers 55, 56, 51 being thereby maintained in an elevated position during the knitting of the heel. When the knitting of the heel is completed the drum 5 is further advanced permitting the toe 58 to drop oil the cam 5| and onto the surface of the drum5 between the cam 5| and the cam 52 Where it remains during the knitting of the sole of the stocking, the several yarn guides 55, 56, 51 being permitted to be moved to an operative position as dictated by the cams such as 31 on the drum 36. Upon completing the knitting of the sole of the stocking the drum 5 is further advanced thus causing the cam 52 to engage toe 50 of the lever 48 and again rock the said lever thereby again causing the guides 55, 56, 51 to be elevated where. they remain throughout the knitting of the toe.

Fig. 10 shows the needles, after having passed clear the. latches of the loops drawn during the previous course of knitting; the latches on the needles are of sufiicient length to prevent the threads 54 fed through the guides 55, i6, 51 dropping off the said latches.

From the foregoing description in connection with the drawings it will be evident that any one or more of the usual yarn levers 20 may be maintained in feeding position for any desired length of time for the purpose of feeding a mainyarn or yarns to the needles while one or more of the plating guides 55, I6, 51 may be maintained in the feeding position indicated in Fig. 4 for any desired length of time and another guide or guides may be substituted for the first guide or guides thus providing for a ready change in the relations of a plurality of main and a-plurality of plating yarns orthreads.

Further variations in pattern effects may be obtained by jacks for selectively controlling the needles in a manner similar to that shown in British Patent 267,109.

As is shown in Fig. 10, the lower or feeding ends of the guides such as 51 feed their threads in the hooks of the needles at a lower level than the main guides 20 feed their yarns in the hooks of the said needles; as a consequence of the lower feeding positions of the guides 55, 56, 51 a better plating separation between the plating and body threads is maintained.

Where, in the foregoing description and in the appended claims, reference is made to yarns or,

' .sometimes referred to as threads".

In the foregoing description specific terms have been used for descriptive purposes only without the intention of limiting the invention to the precise construction shown, as an instance: latch needles are shown and described although, obviously, other forms of needles may be used in place of latch needles.

- We claim:

1. A circular knitting machine having a rotary needle cylinder and stationary latch ring, means carried by the latch ring for feeding one or more yarns to the needles, a recess in the latch ring spaced from the yarn feeding means, in combination with interchangeable plating guides for feeding threads to the needles and means for moving the said plating guides individually and as desired in the recess in the latch ring and between the said latch ring and the needles, and cam means for controlling the needles to knit a said yarnand a said thread at the same feeding station.

2. A circular knitting machine having a rotary needle cylinder and stationary latch ring, means 'carried'by thelatch ring for feeding one or more yarns to the needles, a recess in the latch ring spaced from the yarn feeding means, in combination with interchangeable plating guides and means for moving the said plating guides individually and as desired in the recess in the latch ring and between the said latch ring and the needles,

the plating threads being fed to the needles at a level below the level where the yarns'ar'e fed to the needles. 1

3. Inc. circular knitting machine having means for feedingone or more main yarns to the needles,

a latch ring and a bracket carried thereby, plating thread guides slidably mounted in the bracket to move vertically to a position between the needles and latch ring to feed threads to the needles; and

- ity-of guides for interchangeably feeding main threads or yarns to the needles, in combination with supplemental means located in advance of the main yarn feeding means interchangeably to feed plating threads to the needles, the feeding of plating threads being eifected at a level below that v of the feeding of the main yarns, and cam means for controlling the needles to knit a said yarn and a said thread at the same feeding station.

. 6. An independent needle knitting machine, means for feeding or more yarns to the needles and supplemen 1 means for feeding one or more plating threads to he needles at the same feeding station, the feeding level of the plating threads being .below the feeding level of the yarns. 7. A circular knitting machine having a rotary. needle cylinder and stationary latch .ring, means carried by the latch ring for feeding one or more yarns to the needles, a recess in the latch ring spaced from the yarn feeding means, and in advance of the yarn feeding means, in combination with interchangeable plating guides and means for moving the said plating guides individually and as desired in the recess inthe latch ring.

and between the said latch ring and the needles, and cam means for controlling the needles to knit a said yarn and a said thread at the same feeding station. 8. In a circular knitting machine having means for feeding one or more main yarns to the needles,-

a latch ring and a bracket carried thereby, thread guides slidably mounted in the bracket to move vertically to a position between the needles and latch ring to-feed threads to. the needles, said thread guides being located in advance of the yarn feeding cans.

9. In a circ ar knitting machine having means for feeding one or more main yarns to the needles, a latch ring and a bracket carried thereby, thread guides slidably mounted in the bracket and located in advance of the yarn feeding means, and cam means for controlling the needles to knit a said yarn and a said thread at the same feeding station.

10. An independent needle knitting machine, means for feeding one or more yarns to the needles and supplemental means located in advance of the yarn feeding-means for feeding one or more plating threads to the needles, the feed- .ing level of the plating threads. being below the feeding level of the yarns, and cam means for controlling the needles to knit a said yarn and a. said thread at the same feeding station.

, to the needles, and means for selectively acting upon the said thread guides to move them to inoperative position, said means including slidable pins for operatively acting upon the thread guides and levers for operative engagement with the pins and means connecting the levers with the pattern to the needles, and means for selectively acting v 1 upon the said thread guides to move them to inoperative position, said means including levers connected to the thread guides and slidable pins in engagement with the said levers and otherlevers Ioroperatively engaging the pins and other means connecting the levers with the pattern mechanism for selectively determining which of the thread 5 guides shall be in feeding position.

ROBERT H. LAWSON. ARTHUR N. CLOUTIER. 

